SUDBURY — With hours to go until polls close in a hard-fought byelection, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office is downplaying allegations in an OPP probe that began weeks ago into whether two Liberal operatives offered a candidate a job if he stepped aside.

Related Stories

“It is common for an investigator to make an assertion in an ITO (information to obtain) to obtain a warrant,” Wynne spokeswoman Zita Astravas said in a statement early Thursday evening.

“It in no way confirms that an offence occurred.”

She was referring to an online Toronto Sun report on police document used to get tapes of conversations between spurned Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier — now running as an independent — Sudbury Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed and Pat Sorbara, Wynne’s deputy chief of staff and a Liberal campaign director.

“I do believe that Gerry Lougheed and Pat Sorbara both engaged in soliciting and negotiating with Andrew Olivier,” Det.-Const. Erin Thomas, of the ‎OPP anti-rackets squad, is quoted as writing in the document.

Noting that both Loughheed and Sorbara mentioned Wynne in their conversations with Olivier, Thomas added “I believe the references to the premier’s authority threatens the appearance of the government’s integrity.”

The police allegations have not been proven in court and no charges have been laid as police study the tapes the obtained officially after Olivier posted them publicly on Facebook two weeks ago.

Wynne, the Liberals and Sorbara have repeatedly maintained they did not illegally or improperly offer Olivier a job to step aside for defecting New Democrat MP Glenn Thibeault, whom Wynne appointed as her candidate in the belief he had a better chance of living.

It is against the Criminal Code to solicit or negotiate “in any manner . . . with respect to an appointment to an office in expectation of a direct or indirect reward, benefit or advantage.”

In the tapes, Sorbara is quoted as saying to Olivier “we should have the broader discussion about what it is that you’d be most interested in doing . . . whether it’s a full-time or part-time job in a constit (MPP’s constituency) office, whether it is appointments, supports or commissions, whether it is also going on the exec (party executive), there are lots . . . .”

Wynne, who also had a chat with Olivier that he said was not taped, has said previously there was “no specific offer” of a job from her or the party in any call, just discussions on Olivier’s future role in the party.

Lougheed has not commented on his conversation with Olivier.

Although the OPP investigation has been a well known fact in the campaign, opposition parties quickly jumped on the OPP accusations and their effect on the race.

“‎This just puts a black cloud over the entire election,” said Progressive Conservative House Leader Steve Clark.

“This shocking news confirms that the Liberals will do anything to save their own political skins,” NDP House leader Gilles Bisson said in a statement.

The byelection has been a grudge match between the Liberals and New Democrats, which polls suggested were neck-and-neck throughout a four-week campaign fought from doorstep-to-doorstep in the biting northern Ontario cold.

Both parties were eager to settle a score lingering since the June 12 provincial election in which Wynne’s Liberals vaulted to a majority, robbing NDP Leader Andrea Horwath of the balance of power she had enjoyed since 2011.

Despite that setback, New Democrats had won Sudbury, a long-time Liberal riding, after the spring retirement of veteran MPP and cabinet minister Rick Bartolucci.

It was one of three seats the NDP gained from Wynne, who in turn wrested three key central Toronto seats from the New Democrats in a blow to Horwath‎.

Then came the surprise late November resignation of New Democrat MPP Joe Cimino after just five months in the job.

The former teacher quit for unspecified family reasons, putting the riding back up for grabs.

The bitterness between the Liberals and NDP surged after Wynne lured Thibeault into crossing party lines, leaving his seat in Parliament to run for her in what critics called an “opportunistic” and “turncoat” move.

In the process, Wynne rejected Olivier, her candidate from the June vote who came within 980 votes of defeating Cimino.

Olivier is a quadriplegic mortgage broker who has said he often tapes conversations for note-taking purposes.

- With files from Richard J. Brennan and Robert Benzie

Toronto Star

|

(4) Comment

By StatusQuoContinues|FEBRUARY 06, 2015 12:27 PM

You mean to tell me money buys favoritism and manipulates our justice system?. NO say it isn't so (says sarcastically). What surprises the hell out of me is how many citizens can't step back and see this direct link and begin to question the very people investigating the criminals. The OPP are TO CLOSE to the criminals to ensure their charges or lack of are truly ethical and true. Authorities have been bought, and laws are being bent in order to save face in Ontario, and citizens still are stupid enough to believe that everything is OK. No wonder we are going bankrupt, the rich are getting richer while us minions pay the bills. It truly does take morons to elect morons, and those stupid enough to believe this lie deserve to live in poverty.

There are good Police officers, that is a certainty. But given the overwhelming evidence and pervasive and ongoing increase in problems with EVERY police force, it is clear they are corrupt and are following an agenda that does NOT agree with their mandate of 'serving and protecting' the public or upholding the rule of law.

@ Stu. I agree. This government has gotten away with so much for so long, they have corrupted every organization with the power to investigate and deal with their garbage. The OPP has been their stooge since at least 2006 when they followed the wishes of their political masters and NOT the rule of law in Caledonia. This province is a cesspool.

Does anyone actually believe that the OPP will charge anyone in the Liberal Party let alone Wynne? They are not going to bite the hand that feeds them. The RCMP should be investigating this new fiasco. I would love to be wrong.